California International Airshow Salinas Features Larger Than Ever STEM Runway For Hundreds of Students In Our Community
SALINAS, CA, March 12, 2019- This year the California International Airshow Salinas is featuring the largest STEM Runway in the history of the Airshow for children in our community. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Nine local organizations are deploying their employees to volunteer at the 39th annual California International Airshow. Hundreds of middle school students from throughout Monterey County will participate in private STEM tours on Saturday March 23 and Sunday March 24.
Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System (SVMHS) joins Hartnell College, the Naval Postgraduate School, The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, the Watsonville Police Department, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, KION 5 46, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) on the STEM Runway.
“We’re excited to welcome our new STEM Program partners to the California International Airshow,” says Claudia Otero, Director of Community Outreach for the California International Airshow Salinas. “These well-known and respected organizations will provide interactive exhibits, tours and educational presentations to hundreds of students. The goal is to show how they use science, technology, engineering and math to serve our community and to inspire careers in STEM. It’s going to be a lot of fun and a great learning experience.”
SVMHS will feature the MEGA Heart and MEGA Lungs inflatable walk-though exhibits designed to teach people about the risks, symptoms and causes of many diseases such as heart disease and lung cancer. This is the first time the Healthcare Systems features these two exhibits in Monterey County.
“We are proud to introduce the MEGA Heart and MEGA Lungs exhibits at this year’s Airshow,” says Pete Delgado, President/CEO of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System. “These are tools our health care providers will use to teach kids about heart health and the dangers of smoking tobacco products and vaping which has become an epidemic.”
The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) will host several STEM runway exhibits focusing on undersea operations, space, and augmented reality. These exhibits will give the community the chance to see, touch and be inspired by some of the cutting-edge research and activities happening on the NPS campus.
“We are looking forward to sharing some of the exceptional research underway on our university campus to attendees of the Salinas International Airshow,” said retired Vice Adm. Ann E. Rondeau, Naval Postgraduate School President. “Between our gifted scientists and students participating in the STEM Runway and our talented Navy teammates in the cockpits of the Blue Angels, we know there is something to inspire every young girl and boy attending this long-standing community event.”
The Watsonville Police Department will demonstrate how their investigators use math to recreate accident scenes, while the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office will exhibit their drones as well as their Cessna aircraft and explain how they use them. KION 5 46’s STEM presentation will focus on meteorology. Hartnell College will feature a mobile planetarium as well as several hands on exhibits. The Monterey Bay Aquarium and MBARI will feature their Soundscape project which includes sounds recorded with a microphone 900 meters deep in the Monterey Bay.
The private STEM tours take place Saturday and Sunday starting at 8:15 am and ending at 11:30 am. The STEM Runway opens to the public at noon. It’s located next to the Kids Zone at the Salinas Municipal Airport. All members of the public attending the Airshow can visit the STEM Runway free of charge. Tickets to the Airshow are on sale now at salinasairshow.com.
